Yarn collecting apparatus



Sept. 1967 A. R. KNIBBS ETAL 3,339,857

YARN COLLECTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 1'7, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTORS ARTHUR Roma: KMBBS ALAN aEEcHAM A TTORNE Y8 Sept. 1967 A. R. KNIBBS ETAL 3,339,857

YARN COLLECTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17, 1964 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS AR77IUR RONALD K/VIBBS BY ALAN BEECH/1M ATTORNEKS,

A. R. KNIBBS ETAL 3,339,857

YARN COLLECTING APPARATUS Sept. 5, 1967 a Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 17, 1964 a wuwwms ARTHUR Roam KNIBBS ALAN WM,HO'FQIW+W BEECHA m THE! My,

United States Patent Office 3,339,857 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 3,339,857 YARN COLLECTING APPARATUS Arthur Ronald Knibbs, Bedworth, near Nuneaton, and

Alan Beecham, Brandon, near Coventry, England, assignors to Courtaulds Limited, a British company Filed Nov. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 411,796 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 26, 1963, 46,593/ 63 7 Claims. (Cl. 242-18) The invention is concerned with apparatus for collecting yarn. We are primarily interested in the collection and formation into packages of continuous filament yarns or synetheic polymers but the term yarn as used hereafter includes both continuous filament and staple fibre yarns, the fibres or filaments used in which are of natural or man-made origin.

It is usual to collect synthetic polymer yarns after spinning on spools or bobbins which are rotated. Modern developments, where more yarn take-up spools are used per spinning machine and where faster spinning speeds are used, have made the old process of having a plurality of individually driven spools clumsy and uneconomical. It has been desirable for some time that an apparatus could be devised whereby at least two spools could be driven together in a single assembly and be capable of withstanding the forces applied with high speed spinning techniques and yet in which the spools should be easily removable from the apparatus. We have invented such an apparatus. Previous attempts to make such an apparatus have been relatively clumsy and unpracticable and have relied on such things as internal expanding devices to grip the spools with consequent risks of the assembly being unbalanced during rotation.

According to this invention an apparatus for the collection of yarns comprises a frame, an axle secured to and projecting from the frame, a cylinder rotatably mounted coaxially on the projecting axle, a flange on the cylinder projecting radially outwards from the end of the cylinder adjacent'to the frame, the cylinder being adapted to accommodate at least two like spools slida-bly mountable thereon, means for locking the spools when mounted on the cylinder whereby movement of the spools in the axial direction is prevented, the outer cylindrical surfaces of the spools being unimpeded for yarn collection, and means wherebyvthe cylinder and spools when mounted thereon may be rotated about the axle. Means may be provided on the spools and on the cylinder for preventing relative rotation between any of them when in their operative relationship. Preferably the cylinder is of substantially the same length as the axle.

There are twobasic methods of rotating spools used for forming yarns into packages; either the spools may be driven by frictional contact between the spool, or filaments thereon as they are wound, and a rotated roller or by driving the spindle on which the spools are mounted. We prefer to use the first method described as this may provide a constant yarn speed and the packages produced are, in general, superior to those produced by the second method described. Thus, in the apparatus of this invention, the frame is preferably pivoted about an axis parallel to the axis of the axle so that the whole axle, cylinder and spools assembly may be moved towards or away from a cylindrical roller which is positioned adjacent to the assembly and which also has its axis parallel to that of the assembly. The roller has provision for being rotated so that it may drive the winding assembly by frictional contact therewith.

The spools used with the apparatus may be of the plain cylinder type or, preferably, of a more complex, but stronger, shape. For example, a particularly suitable spool has an inner cylindrical sleeve, which is a sliding The means for locating the spools so that there is no relative rotational movement between adjacent spools and between the spool adjacent to the cylinder flange may, preferably, consist of castellations on the outer rims of the spools. The flange will, in this case, have projections or slots in the appropriate places to mate with the castellated outer rim of the adjacent end spool. The spools may, with advantage, be designed so that they will slide onto the cylinder either way around.' This means that the castellations must be the same on both outer rims of each spool. Another method for preventing the relative rotational movement consists in making the outer surface of the cylinder non-circular in cross-section, for example, by making it a hexagonal shape or by machining splines on the cylinder. An advantage in the use of castellations on the rims of the spools is that they facilitate the putting up of the yarn onto the spools when starting to wind yarn packages.

Because of the high speeds encountered in modern spinning machines the spools need to be strong and manufactured to close limits of concentricity. These properties may be achieved by the use of high pressure plastic moulding techniques. We have found that a particularly useful material from which to mould spools is Durestos, an asbestos-reinforced phenolic resin.

The number of spools that may be accommodated on a cylinder is dependent on the length of each spool and on the length of the cylinder. Normally a cylinder would not to be more than about 20 inches long, as at greater lengths, when operating at high speeds, the problem of keeping vibration down within tolerable limits becomes very diflicu lt. We prefer to have a cylinder of about 16 inches in length operating with four spools, each approximately 4 inches long.

The means for axially clamping the spools on the cylinder will normally comprise a threaded device such as a wing nut. However, we prefer to use a captive threaded device so that the machine operator has the least possible trouble during the operation of doffing the packages. This may conveniently be done by using a form of expanding nut which, When unscrewed to the limit of its movement,

when screwed up tight. A braking-device may be fitted onto the frame in such a way as to decelerate the rotating cylinder when the packages of yarn have been fully wound and the rotational force discontinued, if desired.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by means of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side elevation of an assembled apparatus carrying four spools,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional side elevation, on a reduced scale, of the lower part of the frame used in FIGURE 1 and a spindle and counterbalance used for constant yarn speed winding,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional side elevation, on a reduced scale, of a spool as used in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation of the spool illustrated in FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation, on the scale of FIG- URE 2, of the apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, when viewed in the direction of the arrows A in the figures, showing in addition a driving roller contacting the surface of the spools of FIGURE 1.

In FIGURES 1 and 5, a tapered axle 1 is fixedly at tached to a frame 2 by means of a nut 3, and a cylinder 4 is rotatably mounted on the axle 1 by means of bearings 5 and 6. At the end of the cylinder adjacent to the frame there is a flange 7 integral with the cylinder itself, and at the opposite end of the cylinder there is a screwthreaded shank 8 with radial flange 9 attached to the cylinder by means of counter-sunk set-screws 10. Around the shank there is a thick bevelled round washer 11 with an annular recess 11a in its outwardly directed, bevelled surface. Threaded onto the shank is an expanding captive nut which is shown in two positions; one in full line, numbered 12a shows the nut where it is screwed up to clamp spools on the cylinder against axial movement and the other in dotted line, numbered 12b shows the nut unscrewed to the limit of its movement allowed by a circlip 13. With the nut in position 12b, spools may readily be removed from the cylinder.

Four spools 14 may be fitted on to the cylinder.

In FIGURES 2 and 5, the whole of the axle and cylinder assembly attached to the frame 2 is shown pivoted about a spindle 15 which is rotatably held by a second frame 16. A counterweight 17 is attached to the first frame 2 in a position diametrically opposite to the axle and cylinder assembly.

In FIGURES 3 and 4, a spool is shown which consists essentially of three parts, an inner cylindrical sleeve 20, an outer cylindrical portion 21 on which the yarn is wound and an annular rib 22 joining the two cylindrical parts. The outer cylindrical portion is castellated at both ends to give six projections 23, alternating with six spaces, all of which are the same size. A bead 24 is provided around the inner sleeve to aid the removal of the spools by providing a convenient finger-grip and the outer edges of the internal wall of the sleeve are chamfered to facilitate fitting the spools on to the cylinder.

In operation the expanding captive nut is unscrewed to the limit of its movement to position 12b and, in the case illustrated, four spools are slid onto the cylinder. The nut is tightened to clamp the spools up against the end flange and the assembly is allowed by its weight to rest against a roller 25 (shown in FIGURE 5) rotating in the direction of the arrow B, thereby rotating the spools in the direction of arrow C. Yarn 26 being fed towards the assembly is thrown into the nip between the spools and the drum to start the formation of the packages. In FIGURE 5 the assembly is shown in full line in the position it adopts at the commencement of winding. As the yarn packages are formed the assembly moves away from the drum 25 until, at the termination of winding, the spools carry yarn packages 27. The assembly is shown in chain-dotted line at its position towards the termination of winding. Normal traversing mechanisms (not shown) are used to form the packages onto the individual spools. After the packages have been completely formed, the clamping nut is unscrewed and the spools removed from the assembly.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for the production of yarn packages comprising a frame, an axle secured to and projecting from the frame, a cylinder rotatably mounted coaxially on the projecting axle, a flange on the cylinder projecting radially outwards from the end of the cylinder adjacent to the frame, at least two like spools mounted upon the cylinder, the spools being a sliding fit over the cylinder, an expanding nut on the end of the cylinder remote from the frame for locking the spools on the cylinder whereby movement of the spools in the axial direction is prevented, the outer cylindrical surface of the spools being unimpeded for yarn collection, complementary castellations on the spools and on the flange of the cylinder for preventing relative rotational movement between any of the spools and the cylinder, the frame being pivoted about an axis substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the cylinder, whereby the axle, cylinder and spools assembly may be moved to contact a roller positioned adjacent to the assembly and which is drivable about its axis substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the cylinder, whereby the spools mounted on the cylinder may be rotated about the axle.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein four spools are mounted on the cylinder.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each said spool comprises an inner cylindrical member, an outer cylindrical member and an annular rib extending from the inner cylindrical member to the outer cylindrical memher and fixedly attached to both the inner and outer cylindrical members.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the annular rib is fixedly attached to the inner and outer cylindrical members at points substantially midway along their lengths.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the ends of the outer cylindrical member have complementary castellations for preventing relative rotational movement between the spool and a like spool in operative relationship thereto, with the castellations on one spool mating with the gaps between the castellations on the other spool.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the inner and outer cylindrical members and the annular rib are integral.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the expanding nut is a captive expanding nut.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,164,426 7/ 1939 Renfroe.

2,204,475 6/ 1940 Crandall 242-18 2,483,427 10/1949 Nicholson et al.

2,526,029 10/1950 Judelson 242-563 2,898,137 8/1959 Kreske 242-683 X 3,044,728 7/1962 Landgraf et al. 242-685 3,153,519 10/1964 Jewell et al. 242-11841 X 3,165,274 1/1965 De Priest 242-18 FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner, 

1. APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF YARN PACKAGES COMPRISING A FRAME, AN AXLE SECURED TO AND PROJECTING FROM THE FRAME, A CYLINDER ROTATABLY MOUNTED COAXIALLY ON THE PROJECTING AXLE, A FLANGE ON THE CYLINDER PROJECTING RADIALLY OUTWARDS FROM THE END OF THE CYLINDER ADJACENT TO THE FRAME, AT LEAST TWO LIKE SPOOLS MOUNTED UPON THE CYLINDER, THE SPOOLS BEING A SLIDING FIT OVER THE CYLINDER, AN EXPANDING NUT ON THE END OF THE CYLINDER REMOTE FROM THE FRAME FOR LOCKING THE SPOOLS ON THE CYLINDER WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF THE SPOOLS IN THE AXIAL DIRECTION IS PREVENTED, THE OUTER CYLINDRICAL SURFACE OF THE SPOOLS BEING UNIMPEDED FOR YARN COLLECTION, COMPLEMENTARY CASTELLATIONS ON THE SPOOLS AND ON THE FLANGE OF THE CYLINDER FOR PREVENTING RELATIVE ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN ANY OF THE SPOOLS AND THE CYLINDER, THE FRAME BEING PIVOTED ABOUT AN AXIS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF 